Pensions Strike Nov 30th

Unions keep the pressure on as the government begins to make concessions

Joint public sector strike goes ahead on November 30th

The government has made its first concessions in the pension talks, having said previously there were no concessions to be made.
The fact that they have done this is due to the continued pressure of
our campaign including our strike in June, the lobby of Parliament at
half term and the plans for wider action in November.
So, we should be confident that we are having an effect on their thinking.

However the NUT does not consider that the government has moved far enough - nor as far as we can make them move.

The government has not moved on its proposal to make public sector
workers pay more and work longer for their pensions. It remains
committed to imposing its unjustified increase in employee contributions
and to requiring workers to stay in work until 68, or even longer, for a
full pension.
Its proposal on accruals would simply keep the current accrual rate in
place while still cutting pensions through the move to career average
pensions and lower CPI inflation increases in retirement.

The main proposal is to offer some protection to workers who
are within 10 years of their current normal pension age on 1 April
2012; this would be welcome for those workers
but would still leave them paying 50% extra contributions and losing 15%
of their pension pot due to the lower CPI indexation.

It would also still leave the remainder of the workforce facing significant extra costs and losses in retirement.

The NUT will continue discussions with government and with other unions. However, the strike action on 30th
November will go ahead if the government does not move further to
secure a negotiated agreement. NUT members are covered by the ballot we
have already had.